Bus

Long Beach Transit to launch TAP payment card

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The city’s public transit agency is rolling into a new era with a new access pass program being fully implemented next week, the Press-Telegram reported.

As of Sunday, Long Beach Transit (LBT) riders can no longer purchase most paper bus passes or use pennies to pay for fares. In lieu of paper passes, regular bus users will load fare payments onto a Transit Access Pass (TAP) card prior to boarding, then scan the card on the bus in order to travel, according to the report.

LBT spokesman Kevin Lee explained that the agency has been piloting the TAP program, which is being used by many other L.A. County bus systems, for the past year.

The show featured nearly 135 exhibitors and close to 60 vehicles, ranging from transit buses to motorcoaches and cutaways to vans, as well as some of the latest technologies available to operators on the market today.